Business News

World is a blur in $2.3 million Bugatti Veyron

by Peter Corbett - Dec. 24, 2009 08:00 AMThe Arizona Republic

At full throttle, the intense thrill of driving the 1,001-horsepower Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport alarms the senses into focusing on the road rushing past as you try to harness the car's power with its equally capable agility.

Crashing this $2.3 million supercar loaner into a lake is not an option I care to explore as I blast down the twisting Bartlett Dam Road on a recent morning.

Best to avoid the ridicule heaped on the Bugatti driver in Texas who drove his midengine Veyron coupe into a lagoon last month. He excused his expensive screwup by saying he had been distracted by a low-flying pelican.

The all-wheel-drive Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, touted as the world's fastest production car, quickly tests your machismo as you take the wheel wondering whether you're worthy of its exotic driving pleasures. Me, probably not, but there I was at the wheel.

The wind up and whoosh of four turbochargers in the 8-liter 16-cylinder engine signals a burst of horsepower that's electrifying as it kicks in.

It passes everything in a blur. Roadrunners be damned, beep, beep!

Car and Driver reported acceleration at zero to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds for the Grand Sport.

Top speed is 253 mph, or a mere 223 mph with the targa top removed.

"It's basically the biggest and baddest sports car in the world. Two hundred and fifty three miles an hour, that's just ridiculous," said Austin Frogge, an Arizona State University student who screeched to a halt when he spotted the Bugatti out for a test drive and photo shoot.

He and his friends Caitlin Rogers and Luke Mills took photos with the car for their Facebook pages, and Frogge reverently took off his dusty skater shoes before climbing into the driver's seat.

Car guys drool

Impressive performance numbers aside, the Bugatti's curvaceous styling and distinctive horseshoe grille attract lots of attention among car enthusiasts and just about everyone else who encounters the car. Cyclists we passed during the test drive gave it a thumbs-up. Outside the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale, the Bugatti got all the looky-loos while an orange Lamborghini Gallardo seemed strangely ordinary.

"Where are the drool marks?" asked businessman John Nathman as he looked over the Veyron.

"I know I could scare myself with that car," said Nathman, a board member of an oil-and-gas company who races go-karts as a hobby.

He expressed a preference for 10 Ford Shelby GTs rather than one Grand Sport.

With a price close to $2.3 million, depending on the Euro exchange rate, there is an inclination to calculate how many other cars equal one Bugatti.

Nathman could actually get nearly 50 Shelby GTs. I figured I could get 98 Volkswagen GTIs.

I had arrived at the Four Seasons for the Veyron test drive in my VW GTI, a distant cousin (twice removed) of the Bugatti, with its mixed European heritage.

Volkswagen bought the Bugatti brand in 1998 and developed the Veyron, named for Pierre Veyron, one of the early winners of the LeMans 24-hour race.

Ettore Bugatti was an Italian car designer who launched his car company in France a century ago. About 150 of the new Veyron Grand Sports will be built by hand at the Bugatti plant in Molsheim, France. Close to a third of those cars likely will end up in the United States.

$450,000 down

Order a car now with a deposit of $450,000, plus another $450,000 in five months, and Bugatti will deliver a Grand Sport by October once you pay the final $1.4 million due on the car.

Most of the Bugattis will be purchased by car collectors who will put them away and drive them on special occasions, said Butch Leitzinger, a sports-car racer and Bugatti's intrepid test driver, who must endure rookies at the wheel of the Veyron.

Most race cars adapted for the road are horrible to drive slowly, he said, but the Bugatti behaves well at low speeds.

"You don't feel like you have to thrash it to get enjoyment out of it," Leitzinger said.

During my test run, I did not get anywhere near the Bugatti's top speed of 253 mph on the twisting road to Bartlett Lake. To drive faster than 230 mph, you must insert a special key that lowers the suspension.

I did get a taste of the car's firm handling and rocketlike acceleration, while staying on the road and out of the drink.

So I now have the bragging rights that come with driving the world's fastest production car.

I can scratch that one off the bucket list, right near the items about twins and an evening with Penelope Cruz.